Welcome. In this blog I'm showing my drawings and images of the starships from the Star Trek series, of which I'm a great fan.If you aren't attracted by the series or, at least, science fiction, consider before going any further. There may not be here anything you'll find appealing. (You can go to my other, more artistic, blog. You'll find the link after the disclaimer).

IMPORTANT: You may download the images, but if you are going to make use of them, please mention the source.

THE FOLLOWING DRAWINGS AND IMAGES WERE MADE BY MYSELF. MANY OF THEM ARE EXTENSIVE MODIFICATIONS OF IMAGES DOWNLOADED FROM THE NET OR SCANNED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES, ADAPTED TO BE SHOWN IN THIS PRESENTATION. ONLY TWO NAMES OF THE ORIGINAL AUTHORS COME TO MY MEMORY AT THIS MOMENT: MIKE SWANTAK AND STEWART DAVIS. TO THEM, AND ALL THOSE I'M FORGETTING RIGHT NOW, MY RESPECTS.IN ANY CASE, THE IMAGES HAVE LITTLE RESEMBLANCE TO THOSE THAT ORIGINATED THEM, SINCE, AS STATED BEFORE, THEY WERE HEAVILY MODIFIED.NO VIOLATION OF COPYRIGHT INTENDED, NOR APPROPIATION OF OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK. THIS IS JUST FOR FUN. ENJOY.-------------------------------------------------------------

The thing is: I don't like what they did for the 1701-B. Never did, not when I first saw it, not now, not ever.

It seems quite clear that it was made in a hurry, the powers that be were urged to sell the model kit, which has to look related but different from the Excelsior.

What did they do? Just added some pointless, poorly designed "art deco" clip-ons, superfluous and badly placed impulse engines (very technological stuff) and slightly changed color pattern, et voilá, the all new Enterprise B, ladies and gentlemen -by the way, the bussard collectors always, ALWAYS, must glow in red-.

Never mind if they screwed the beautiful lines or the aerodynamic profile of the Excelsior model for good (apparently the add-ons can't be removed, since they kept using the model as is).

C'mon! They were on a feature movie budget, for crying out loud! Do they have to be that cheap? Couldn’t they come with some better ideas?

"Hey, it’ll be on screen for about a minute and a half, and never in a good shot! Why bother?" they'd probably said. And perhaps they were right. Besides, the script wasn’t all that good to through that much money on it.

Anyway, it was an ENTERPRISE! Have some respect, you creeps, and do something worthy of the name! (shame on you, John Eaves)

The other day, while padding myself on the back after seen my drawings posted on EX ASTRIS SCIENTIA (http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/index.htm) Bernd Schneider's site, this line of thought came back, only this time a question piggy-backed:

"Alright, geek, enough complaining. What would you have done, given a short deadline and a lousy budget?"

Well, this is what I would have done.

The following is a futile exercise of imagination (not much, though), a “what if?” game, aimed solely to intrigue and entertain. Of course, the 1701-B model has been around for some fourteen years now, and this changes nothing, needless to say.

But it was a lot of fun doing it.

I gave myself a week to finish it.

The changes are kind of subtle, as to preserve the lines of the model, but quite distinct to differentiate it from the original.

I chose to address a few problems, such as the small bridge dome and rear shuttle bay, often mentioned when referred to the Excelsior. I didn’t like the shuttle bay door either, nor the “flaps” on the nacelles. Regarding these, I tried to make them closer to those on the Ambassador class, making this model sort of a “bridge” between the two classes.

A lot of things could’ve been modified without justification, I tried to restrain myself to the ones that really make sense, always keeping in mind that the Enterprise B is an Excelsior class starship.

O.K., maybe the twin “botanical domes” on the dorsal were a little too much, but all that flat surface was an irresistible temptation (not to mention that they make a whole lot more sense than the extra impulse engines).

All in all, I think the final model looks good and it wouldn’t be more expensive to make than that on the movie. And, yes, I believe the model kit would have been sold like fresh donuts, just because it’s a new Enterprise.

It can be interesting to ask all those Trekkies with skills in design “which starship do you hate, why and what would you have done with it?” and see what happens. (I think Archer’s Enterprise is a solid candidate for a total makeover).